Quick bowls for a place

SKY-SCRAPING NSW fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been quietly added to the Australian squad for Friday's first Test against South Africa.

The 21-year-old from Tamworth lobbed at the Test team's Brisbane hotel on Sunday night with state colleague and Test quick Mitchell Starc and joins Michael Clarke's squad as its fifth paceman.

It is highly unlikely that Hazlewood would be in the mix to play on Friday as he has been brought in mainly for development reasons with a view to him joining Australia's cabal of Test bowlers in the near future.

However, the call-up is further evidence of the high esteem in which the fast bowler is held by selectors.

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Chief selector John Inverarity is a big fan of Hazlewood - and while it would take an injury or two for him to come into calculations for the Gabba Test, the Australian hierarchy hopes the experience of being in and around the squad will benefit him.

Hazlewood has previously been called up to a Test squad, making the touring party for the series in India in 2010 before being ruled out with injury. Previously, he had made his one-day international debut as a teenager against England in England but his emergence at the top level has been stalled by fitness issues.

He featured prominently, however, in the Sydney Sixers' victory at the Champions League Twenty20 last month and has been rewarded for his promise with another Australian tracksuit. Before too long, there may be a baggy green.